To Love Fear
by NikkiDes
Summary: The Joker wasn't Harley's first love, and she's been crazy for love once before, literally. Dr. Jonathan Crane  Scarecrow  and Dr. Harleen Quinzel  Harley Quinn  continue their love for one another within the walls of Arkham Asylum. After Batman Begins.


_I do not own any characters or events from the Batman franchise. That's all DC Comic's brilliance and not mine._

_This is Nolanverse!_

_This takes place after "Batman Begins" and during "The Dark Knight". Cillian Murphy was a super attractive Scarecrow so I thought I would write a story about what he was up to in TDK. Please be nice to me as I am not the best FanFiction author ever. I am working on improving to make my stories better. I hope you enjoy!_

**Fear**

-noun

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or_** imagined**_.

"I missed you," said a sweet, gentle voice in the dark cell.

Jonathan Crane opened his eyes instantly, blinking quickly to further wake himself up. His hearing sense had been accustomed to nothing but white noise for hours. His messy wavy, brown hair fell over his face as he shot up out of his bed. His hands searched in the darkness for his glasses, but before he could find them he saw a blurred figure coming closer to him. He felt his glasses touch his face as the mysterious figure placed them flawlessly in position. He could smell the fragrance of the figure; sensuous and enchanting. The silky smooth voice he had heard was only too familiar.

"Harley," Jonathan declared with no question about it.

His arms reached out for her and brought her in close. He hadn't hugged her in the longest time. The curves of her body against his made him feel blissful; a feeling Jonathan hadn't felt in the longest time.

"I see you promoted yourself out of the straightjacket," Harley said out of breath from the tight hug.

Jonathan let her go as he motioned for her to sit next to him on his cot. He began getting used to the darkness and could now see her face faintly as well as the blonde hair that fell over her shoulders in ironed waves. The soft light in the hallway lit the room up enough to create an orange glow on their skin.

"Apparently I am not much of a threat anymore; it's quite insulting," Jonathan joked. His voice was articulate and professional that when speaking to him many felt as if he was still a psychiatrist and not a current inmate.

"When you were first admitted to the asylum I was still at the general Gotham Hospital as a part time psychologist. Then I received a promoted internship here at Arkham and you had apparently escaped a few weeks back. Now since the Batman had tied you up after your drug exchange you are back here and, hey, so am I. Funny thing fate is, isn't it?" Harley smiled as she took his hand and placed it on her face, feeling his skin on hers.

"Well when you put it that way, I suppose these past few years have been rather eventful." Jonathan said emotionless as he was too focused on his hand touching Harley's soft porcelain face. Jonathan collected himself and aimed his strikingly light blue eyes into her sapphire eyes. "What is it, my child?"

"Still with the child nickname, huh?" Harley asked with lightness to her voice. "You know I'm only three years younger than you."

"Yes but still younger, indeed." Jonathan noted.

"I wanted to see you. See if you'd kept your promise." Harley moved closer to Jonathan's lap.

"And what promise would that be?" Jonathan asked in confusion.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Harley asked bewildered.

"It's been a long, tiring, and gruesome few years, my dear. Forgive my forgetfulness." Jonathan replied more sternly.

"Your proposal," Harley whispered in his ear.

Jonathan's eyes grew wider as he remembered his promise to her back when she was finishing up her thesis in college. He had been a professor in the department of psychology during the spring semester where he met Harley. Such a beautiful, youthful, misguided girl she was. The course was obviously too hard for her, but she never would give up. She stayed after class one day and told Jonathan she needed to pass the class in order to graduate. Jonathan was irresistibly attracted to her and knew the scandal was worth it. After many evenings and nights spent together, they both fell in love. Jonathan promised her that once she graduated college that he would propose to her. But due to his obsession with psychopharmacology, creating the ultimate fear gas, selling the fear gas, and plotting Gotham's fate, his promise had been forgotten within the chaos.

"Well I suppose it's a lost cause asking you now." Jonathan said without looking at her, feeling regret for having forgotten about his promise to her. And now that he was locked up, what could he do?

"Well you scratched my back, it's time I scratch yours." Harley said delightfully crawling into Jonathan's lap.

"What are you trying to say?" Jonathan asked confounded.

"You gave me an 'A' for my thesis. Now I am going to declare you sane! Look, Amadeus assigned your case to me because he knows you were once my professor. I thought it was strange that he would do so because of bias, but he feels that since you know me that you would show more progress speaking to someone you know rather than a stranger. So this is what we will do. You will come to sessions with me three times a week, an hour each. After a few weeks I will tell Amadeus that you have showed so much progress that I want you declared sane. Then we will go through all the paperwork to do so and you'll be a free man. I don't think you're dangerous Jonathan, you're brilliant. But no one else in Gotham thinks similarly so I am going to do this for you- for us."

"And it's that easy?" Jonathan asked with sarcasm and disbelief.

"It can be if you stop being a power hungry asshole and let me." Harley replied with sass. Jonathan had always been the powerful one in the relationship and never let Harley do anything on her own. Although Jonathan hated feeling like he was powerless, he did want to get out, and regain his power and his someday fiancée.

Jonathan laughed at her comment and hugged her in his lap, kissing her forehead.

"I love you, Harley." Jonathan whispered.

"I love you, but I've got to go." Harley kissed his lips softly and walked out the door, giving Jonathan one last glance at him before she left.

The door shut behind her and he lay back on his cot, thoughts racing. Could this really be so easy? He could only hope her promise would follow through unlike his. He then shut his eyes and fell back into a deep sleep.


End file.
